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Border jam puts Mongolia’s coal lifeline under threat

In Mongolia's Gobi desert, thousands of heavy-duty trucks laden with coal inch along a cluttered highway towards the Chinese border in a journey that can take more than a week.

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A man eats instant noodles in the cabin of his truck at Khanbogd Soum, near the border with China in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 30, 2017. Truckers cook, eat and sleep inside their vehicles. Noodles are sold from smaller vans driving up and down the road. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

A man carries tanks with diesel fuel on the road near the border with China in Khanbogd Soum in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 30, 2017. Vendors sell fuel by pushcarts and from the back of cabs to coal truck drivers waiting on the road. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

Three men eat a dinner of instant noodles and dried beef inside a truck at Khanbogd Soum, near the border with China, in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 31, 2017. Truckers cook, eat and sleep in vehicles covered in coal dust, many subsisting on the same meat soup that fuelled Genghis Khan's Mongol Horde more than eight centuries ago. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

Sheep meat and cooking gas are seen in the back of a van on the road to the Mongolia-China border at Khanbogd Soum in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 31, 2017. Smaller vehicles travel up and down the highway to the Mongolia-China border selling water and food to coal truck drivers who are many days away from a rest stop. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

A man carries groceries to men who are digging their coal truck out of the sand at Khanbogd Soum, near the border with China in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 31, 2017. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

Trucks filled up with coal are lined up in the early morning in Khanbogd Soum, some 20 kilometres from the border with China, in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 30, 2017. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

A photographer casts his shadow near a coal truck which flipped over at Khanbogd Soum, near the border with China in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 29, 2017. Getting to the border can be a harrowing ordeal, as vehicles speed towards China and back down the one-lane road. With no street lamps to guide the way and drink-driving a constant problem, danger levels increase at night, drivers say. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

A man sits outside a ger at the Tsagaan Khan rest spot for truck drivers at Khangobd Soum some 20 kilometres from the border with China in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 30, 2017. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

A truck driver washes himself with bottled water on the main highway for delivering coal to China at Khangobd Soum in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 31, 2017. Drivers eat and sleep in their front cabins while waiting more than a week to reach the Mongolia-China border. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

A man stands by a damaged truck after an accident en-route to China in Khanbogd Soum in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 29, 2017. Getting to the border can be a harrowing ordeal, as vehicles speed towards China and back down the one-lane road. With no street lamps to guide the way and drink-driving a constant problem, danger levels increase at night, drivers say. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

A woman stops to sell food to truck drivers near the border with China at Khanbogd Soum in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 31, 2017. A megaphone mounted on her car plays a recording letting drivers know she can offer food, water and fresh meat. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

Thousands of heavy-duty trucks loaded with coal are lined up for up to 130 kilometres from the Mongolia-China border on a sole road in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 31, 2017. The journey can take more than a week. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

Thousands of heavy-duty trucks loaded with coal are lined up for up to 130 kilometres from the Mongolia-China border on a sole road in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 31, 2017. The journey can take more than a week. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS

Thousands of heavy-duty trucks loaded with coal are lined up for up to 130 kilometres from the Mongolia-China border on a sole road in the Gobi desert, Mongolia, October 29, 2017. The journey can take more than a week. RENTSENDORJ BAZARSUKH/REUTERS